Mail-bag-receiving apparatus.



w. T. SMITH. MAILBAG RECEIVING APPARATUS. APPILICATION FILED AUG.4|I9I4.

1,242,381 Patented 6$. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

W. T. SMITH. MAlL BAG RECEIVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4.1914.

1,242,381 PtehtedJOctB, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET2.

w. T. SMITH. MAILBAG RECEIVING APPARATUS.

APPUCATION FILED AUGJI. 19114;

3 SHEETS SHEET 3- Patented 0ct.,9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rogersville, in the county of Webster and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag-ReceivingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates ferring mail.

The primary object of the invention'is to provide'an improved,simplified and efficient receiving means so arranged relatively to thedelivery means as to positively and safely transfer mail from astationary support to to devices for trans a fast moving train'or viceversa. 7 A further ob ect of the lnventlon is to so mount the recelvingmeans as to provide for bodily movement thereof into and out ofoperative position, the normal inoperative position being upon theinterior of the mail car at one side of the car door, and theoperative'position being directly within the door and projectedtherethrough into the path of the mail to be transferred.

A still further object of the invent1on resides in the provision ofmeans operating in conjunction with thereceiving means for positivelyand automatically locking the mail in proper place during a transferthereof, said lock means, ifdesired, being independently actuatable toprovide for a removal of the mail as occasion may demand.

The above and additional'objects are accomplished by such means as areillustrated in their preferred embodiment in' the accompanying drawings,described in the follow- 4 'ing specification and then more particularlypointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and form a part ofthis' application.

drawings wherein like-characters denote like p ing parts throughout theseveral views, and in which V Figure 1 is a top plan view of thereceiving means, the same being shown in an inoperativeposltlon with aportlon of its support and the mail car in which it is arrangedbeing-shown n section;

Specification of Letters Patent.

In describing my invention in detail reference will be had, to theaccompanying l 3 is a side elevation of the device, the same being in aninoperative position;

in an operative position;

rman STATES: FATE-T OFFICE-' WILLIAM 2r. SMITH, 0F noGER'svILLE,MISSOURI; a 1

Patented Oct. 9, 1917, Application fi1edAugust'4,1914. seri l No.8553125.

5 is an enlarged plan view of the re- J ceivlng means, i

the casing forming a part thereof being shown in section;

ing means;

Fig. 7 is an edgel'view of the lazy-tong in Fig. 7; I V Fig. 9 is adetail'view of the locking means; and i Fig. 1 is a view similar toFig.2, the. recelvmg meansbelng disposed at an inchnation or angle inorder that the lazy tong mechanism may operate automatically. 7Referring now .to the drawings; by numerals,

1 designatesjarailway mail car, hav- I ing the usual door or: opening 2formed in the sidethereof. Permanently fastened in any suitablemanner,preferably as indicated at 3,"to the car interior at a pointadjacent the door 2 is the support means for the re c eiving apparatusdesignated as an entirety by the numeral 4:. The said support means inits preferred embodiment consists of brackets 5'secured as at-3, thebrackets supporting a sleeve-like ortubular member'6 closed at oneendand open at the other, the" latter, or. open end being fiushiwith theside of the door Qadja'centwhich it is arranged. "The member6 islongitudinally slotted as indicated at 7, one terminal of the said slot7 being branched at an angle as indicated at '8. Within the tubularmember 6" is fitted an arm or support 9' With"vv'hich associated a stopelement 10 disposed to extend through the slot 7 to limit: bothlongitudinal move-' ment -ofthe support and, when within" branch slot 8,as limit movement of the'sup port when turned. When'in the latterposition, (the stop element being now under discussion), that is, inengagement with.

theterminal' of theslotfl8, support 9 is so positioned relatively tothecar door 2 as to project the receiving means 4 therethrough and todispose the said means in a' substantially horizontal plane. When in thefor 55 Fig. i is a similar view, the device being f 60 f r Fig. 6 is alongitudinal sectional view takenthrough the casing of the said receiv-.

7, the receiving means isdisposed in a substantially vertical plane andis entirely inclosed w1th1n the car interior, as shown in Fig. 3, at oneside of the car door. To

permit of bodily adjustment of the member 6, it is but necessary thatthumb screws 11 removal of the mail as occasion may demand.

be loosened, said screws being carried by the respective brackets 5.

Passing on to the description of the receiving means, 12 designates atop plate and 13 the base plate,- the said two plates 'lWlth theconnecting elements tain the plates in spaced relation formingza casingwithin which the operatingmechanism is arranged. Said mechanism is quitesimple in its nature and consists of a pairiof meshing segmentsdesignated respectively.

14 and 15, the same being mounted on-- shafts 16 and 17 extending fromone to the other of the plates.

ments, ,said housing 18 'beingsuitably grooved to prov1de for thearrangement of ball bearings 19 upon which segments .14;

and rest. Arm 9 is made fast to thereceiving meansas indicated at 20 andshownto advantage in Fig. 6.

Eachsegment. has made fast thereto orintegral therewith one of themaster links 21 forming a part of suitable lazy-tong...

mechanism .designated as an entirety by the numeral 22, the latter, whenthe device;

dicated at 26 is a retaining. element 27.-

curved to form,in its normal position, a continuation of the extensionand, with the extension, acts as a retaining meansor lock-= mgmeanswhereby the mail subsequent to transfenis held in place against thelink:23 and within the recess 24 above referred to. An eccentric or camlever 28 is mounted on extension 25, thelever being provided with a lip,or flange. 29 adapted for engagement with a lug 80 depending from anarm .31

made integral with the retaining element27.

and extending over the extension 25; as.

shown to advantage in Fig; 8. Whenlever 28 is swung into. a positionwhereby to engageflange 29 with the lug 30, it is appar-u ent thatretaining element27 is locked irnmovable, relatively to extension 25,thus making it impossible to .move :the saidele+ 3 which mains...

An inner casing .or. hous1ng18 :lS arrangedto inclose the seg-- Theforward as will 'oeivingmeans consisting of a casing lazye ment exceptthrough manipulation of the lever. The lever, when swung into theposition-indicated in Fig. 9, that is, outof engagement with the lug3011f arm 31, will permit element 27 to swing upon its pivot 26 orawayxfrom the extension, out of circumferential alinement therewith,said element, when thus positioned, permitting a One of the segments,preferably 1 1, has associated therewith. an operating handle 32, thelatter being actuatable to operate the lazy-tong mechanism when thedevice or ap-v paratus is operated by hand. Tofacilitate movement of thesaid receivingameans into. and .out of operative position, I provide ahandle 33 secured as shown to the: casing within which the segments arearranged,

In operation, thelazy-tong mechanismwis extended as shown in Fig. 10ofthe: draw- 1ngs,and disposed at an-angle so as to ex tend forwardlyorin the direction oftravel--* of the car, so that-the mail bag may bereceived' a ainst the link .23. hen the im-- b pact has occurredthe'lever 32-is oscillatedmanually to fold thev laZ to1ig' mechanism 1whereby the-retaining .element 27 is quickly embraced about themailbag-and thezbag' held in the inclosure defined by said retainingelement 27, and therecessed portion of the'link 23.

From the foregoing, taken iii-connection with the accompanyingdrawingsit will be. noted-that 1the-mail 1s grasped andv drawn: mto the carinterlorwith one and the same movement of thereceiving meansgthat thesaid mail may be quickly removed when.

within the car interior through 1 manipulation of cam lever 28; and thatwhen-not in use, thereceiving means may be-fol'ded and IDClOSCCl'entirely within the car and-dis-h posed at one side thereof out-of the=way as shown to advantage in Figs. 1 and 3.

In reduction-to-practice, I have'foundthat the form of my invention,illustrated in the drawings, "and referred to in theabove' descriptior-nas the preferred embodiment,

i is the most eflicientandpractical; yet'real 'izing that theconditions: concurrent 'Witllu the adoption of'my devicetwillnecessarilyvary, I desire to-emphasize. the-fact thatvarlous minor changesmidetails of 1con-' I withoutsacrificing any ofthe advantages.struction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resortedto,.whena-required,

of my invention, asdefinedin theappended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, a

what I claim as new and desire to secure by" Letters. Patent, is

w 1..A mailbag receiving apparatus--ineluding a sultablezsupport,receiving-:means movable relatively to saidsupport either: into or'outof operative position, the=said re-" tong mechanism movable relativelyto the casing, and retaining means mounted on and operable throughmovement ofsaid lazytong mechanism, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A mail bag receiving apparatus including a suitable casing, lazy-tongmechanism movable relatively to the casing, means actuatable to operatesaid lazy-tong mechanism, and retaining means mounted on said mechanism,said retaining means being operable automatically through movement ofsaid mechanism, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A mail receiving apparatus including suitable support means, a'casingmounted on said support, segments operating Within the casing, lazy-tongmechanism actuatable through movement of said segments, and retainingmeans mounted on said lazy-tong mechanism, said retaining meansoperating automatically through movement of said mechanism, as and forthe purpose set forth.

4. A mail receiving apparatus including suitable support means, a casingmounted on said support, said casing being movable into and out ofoperative position, lazy-tong mechanism movable relatively to the saidcasing, means actuatable to move the said mechanism, the outermost linkof the said lazy-tong mechanism when in its projected position beingdirectly engageable With the mail matter to be transferred, andretaining means mounted on said mechanism, said retaining meansoperating automatically through movement of said mechanism to grasp andhold the said mail matter against said link, as and for the purpose setforth.

5. A mail receiving apparatus including lazy-tong mechanism, theoutermost link of the said mechanism being directly engageable With themail matter to be transferred, means actuatable to operate saidmechanism, and means mounted on said mechanism engaging said outermostlink, said means operating automatically through movement of saidmechanism to grasp and retain the mail matter in engagement With saidlink in a transferring operation, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. A mail receiving apparatus including suitable lazy-tong mechanism,means actu atable to operate said mechanism, the outermost link of thesaid mechanism when projected being directly engageable with the mailmatter to be transferred, retaining means mounted on saidmechanism,'said retaining means operating automatically to grasp andhold the mail matter against the said outermost link as the lazy-tongmechanism is folded, and means operable independently of the saidlazy-tong mechanism to release the mail matter subsequent to transfer,as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A mail receiving apparatus including suitable lazy-tong mechanism,meshing segments actuatable to operate-said segments, the outermost linkof the said mechanism being directly engageable With the mail mattertransferred in the projected position of said mechanism, retaining meansmounted on said mechanism adjacent said link,

said retaining means operating automaticallyto grasp and hold said mailmatter against the said link as the mechanism is operated in atransferring operation, and means mounted on said retaining means, saidlast mentioned means being operable independently of said retainingmeans to release the mail matter subsequent to transfer,"

as and for the purpose set forth.

8. A mail receiving apparatus including suitable lazy-tong mechanism,means actuatable to operate said mechanism, retaining means mounted onsaid mechanlsm, said retaining means operating automatically to graspand hold the mail matter as the lazytong mechanism is actuated,fastening means mounted on said retaining means for holding the latterin operative relation relatively to the lazy-tong mechanism, saidfastening means being independently actuatable to release said retainingmeans to provide for a removal of the mail matter subsequent totransfer, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM T. SMITH.

Witnesses HENRY E. DENNIS, ANDY N. Knssnn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

